Golden State Today

There were 99 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in California in the week ending Nov. 12, making up 1.7% of total deaths by all causes in California, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Nov. 12, there were 5,671 deaths in the state. 21% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.3% were from cancer and 4.4% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10.1% of deaths were from Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

Studies show doctors and medical examiners may underreport Alzheimer's disease and dementia-related conditions as the underlying cause of death on death certificates, according to the National Institute on Aging.

Once infected, older adults with dementia are likely to develop a more severe and dangerous illness. The diseases which make an older adult more vulnerable to COVID-19 are age-associated chronic conditions, according to the Bright Focus Foundation.

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths	% of Total Deaths
Alzheimer's disease	336	5.9
Cerebrovascular diseases	326	5.7
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	229	4
Diabetes mellitus	215	3.8
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	153	2.7
Influenza and pneumonia	106	1.9
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	106	1.9
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	99	1.7
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	1,150	20.3
Heart disease	1,190	21

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths	% of Total Deaths
Alzheimer disease and dementia	573	10.1